'Houdini' wombat escapes New South Wales zoo

Lake Macquarie's Toronto Zoo, aka Carey Bay Zoo, opened in 1944 after Tom Brown purchased land to grow tomatoes, but instead chose to expand his aviary. After Brown's death in 1951, Reg and Angela Ward took over the zoo and introduced a host of other animals, including Nero the Lion, Big Boy the Cockatoo (alleged to be over 90 years old) and Sammy, the Walkabout Wombat. Affectionately known as the "Houdini" of Ambrose Street, Sammy regularly tunnelled out to freedom, once making it as far as Awaba before recapture. Despite attracting up to 3,000 visitors each Sunday in the mid-to-late 1950s, the zoo closed in 1958 due to rising costs. Most of its animals were sold to private zoos and a caravan park was built in its place. (State Library of New South Wales/Flickr)